Penfolds wine named best Australian export
December 9, 2008
Chris Snow
Penfolds 2005 Bin 144 Yattarna Chardonnay was named Australia's best export wine for 2008 by the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation (AWBC).
Selected from 17,369 entries submitted for the AWBC's approval, Yattarna is Australia's most expensive white wine, at AUS$130 (£58). The same wine was chosen best Chardonnay over £10 at the 2008 Decanter World Wine Awards.
Penfolds' senior white winemaker Kym Schroeter said the wine was 'akin to a grand cru', in that unlike previous vintages for which fruit from multiple regions was used, the 2005 was made entirely from Adelaide Hills grapes.
Only 1,000 cases of Yattarna are produced each year, with Australia, the UK and the US as the main markets.
By law, all Australian export wines must be approved by AWBC expert panels which conduct year-round assessments and nominate the best wines for final judgment.
Have your say...
To post your comment on this story, email us at news@decanter.com, making sure the relevant headline is in the subject field
The AWBC continue to disadvantage the small artisan winemaker by only having on their panels winemakers that would be better suited to the soft drinks industry than to winemaking. Australia in in danger of producing wines that have neither regional or varietal characteristics or even worst wines, that through reverse osmosis or other modern techniques have stripped any interesting flavours from them. Winemaking should not be taught in the lab, its should be felt in the vineyard.
The wineries that are making the very best artisan wines in Australia are not submitting their wines to this process, so the AWBC should really stop calling it Australia's best export. One last point, surely the AWBC goal is to market Australian wine in general and this frivolous award should be left to the many other shows that exist for wineries to get their goal medals or trophies.
Paul Hopkins
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